Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, who became a King in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedon. He began as a bodyguard to Alexander before becoming a trusted friend and rising through the ranks.

The coin is a tetradrachm, meaning that it was worth four drachmas; one drachma, in turn, was worth six obols. It is a high-value coin representing, in the mid-fifth century BC, four days’ pay for a skilled laborer or for a hoplite soldier, or two days’ pay for a sculptor working on a public building.

I love how sharp and clear it is. I wonder how many times, and for what exactly, it was passed from hand to hand.

When Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, he was carrying

two pairs of spectacles and a lens polisher,

a pocketknife,

a watch fob,

a linen handkerchief, and

a brown leather wallet containing a five-dollar Confederate note and eight newspaper clippings, including several favorable to the president and his policies.

Given to his son Robert Todd upon Lincoln’s death, these everyday items, which through association with tragedy had become like relics, were kept in the Lincoln family for more than seventy years. Now in the Library of Congress.

Shell carefully framed by the knapping. If you consider decoration as art, this is one of the first known art manifestations. West Tofts, England. Around 100.000? BP.

“Properly dating this object is impossible because it was extracted from an archaeological excavation when the strata and the dating still did not matter. They were only interested in extracting objects for the interest of antique dealers and collections.

For the industry in which it is carved, there are authors who say that it belongs between 500,000 and 300,000 years BP while others say it is around 100,000. Others even say it is 10,000 years ago. As there are so many different dates I have decided to put 100,000 BP.” -RCO_